THIRTIETH REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 11 



tained with baits. Where grain and grass were baited some 

 reasonably good kills were obtained but the results were erratic. 

 Where alfalfa was baited or heavy weed growth was common, 

 baits frequently failed completely. Many farmers were discourag- 

 ed by the results and s f opped baiting, and in some areas baiting 

 was almost discontinued as a control program. 



Efforts to explain these failures have not met with much suc- 

 cess. With the change from sodium arsenite to sodium fluosilicate 

 came an increasing number of reported bait failures and there 

 has been a strong tendency to place the blame on the sodium 

 fluosilicate bait. Th ; s is apparently not correct since as often as 

 not when comparisons of the two baits were made the fluosilicate 

 gave equal or better control than the arsenite. A more plausible 

 explanation seems to be the different feeding habits of the grass- 

 hoppers during periods of low populations and abundant crops as 

 compared with periods of high popuations and limited crop de- 

 velopment. Furthermore, the war demand for maximum produc- 

 tion has made farmers more conscious of crop losses from insects 

 and other pests, and crop damage considered negligible in pre-war 

 days is now of seme concern. Only continued research and study 

 will ultimately give the right answer. 



During the late summer and fall, baiting gave uniformly ex- 

 cellent results under practically all cropping conditions. In the 

 Camas Prairie section of Sanders County, where spring baiting, 

 of as many as six or eight applications in a single field gave no 

 appreciable decrease, a single baiting in late August and early 

 September resulted in reducing a threatening population to one of 

 noneconomic importance. The same bait was used throughout 

 the season. Again it seems that some element, as yet unknown, in 

 the habits and development of the 'hoppers must be responsible 

 for this change. 



Fall baiting for the protection of winter wheat has become an 

 important part of the grasshopper control program in the strip 

 farm sections of Montana. This is demonstrated by the bait usage 

 in Cascade County where approximately 190 tons of bait were 

 used and County Agent Fosse reported "practically all of the bait- 

 ing this year was done from September 9 up to October 30, 1944, 

 to protect fall seedings of winter wheat ..." Likewise in Chou- 

 teau County 80 percent and in Hill County 37 percent of the bait 

 used during the 1944 season was distributed after September 1. 



It seems entirely possible that fall baiting will become a ma- 

 jor part of the baiting program in Montana if continued better 

 kills are obtained in the late season, and fall baiting programs, 

 such as those conducted in Yellowstone County in 1943 and San- 

 ders County in 1944, prove effective in reducing egg laying. 



Losses due to grasshoppers approximated $1-238,846 in 1944. 



